


a bit of honesty

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Feelings, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 04:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: “Wait,” Owain said, a little dazed. He blinked up at Inigo’s silhouette. “Did you... miss me?”“No,” Inigo said flatly.





	a bit of honesty

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this was going to be a 400 word drabble I dropped over on my [tumblr](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/) but then ended up turning into a 1K+ fic. Whoops! Partially inspired by [this post](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/post/171504284698/someobscurereference-the-awakening-kids-do) I made over on my tumblr a week ago. You can read that before or after reading this fic. Any order is fine.
> 
> It's young Awakening Inigo and Owain, so of course they're more gruff and emotionally stunted than their Fates counterparts.

Owain awoke with a jerk as a cold nose pressed itself into his stomach. As he sat up, foreign arms took the opportunity to wrap themselves around his waist.

“ _Shit_ ,” he slurred, voice raspy. Which showed pretty remarkable restraint, Owain thought, considering that awaking to any kind of touch in the dead of night was usually grounds to snatch up the sword next to his mat and stab first, ask questions later. It was only the familiar—if shadow shrouded—outline of a person that Owain barely recognized in the dark that kept him from doing so. “Inigo?”

“Be quiet, Owain,” Inigo grumbled, ever sour, even as he rubbed his face into the sliver of Owain’s exposed skin that peeked between Owain’s crumpled shirt and the hem of his pants. It was as though Inigo was trying to suck the warmth from Owain’s body into his icy face.

Owain groaned. Quietly, because it was still the dead of night, but loud enough to let Inigo know he was still annoyed. “Seriously, what are you doing? I’m not in the mood for you to make fun of me right now.”

If Inigo tried, Owain would throw him out of the tent faster than Inigo could take it back. A bare hint of moonlight already shone through the exposed flap of the tent. He had good aim.

It was only earlier that afternoon that Owain had found his mother and reunited with his friends, after all. And there had been a battle, on top of that. He had no idea how Inigo wasn’t as exhausted as he.

When he was answered with silence, Owain asked, voice slightly less annoyed and a little more concerned, “Are you okay?”

Inigo’s lips thinned. He buried his face in Owain’s shirt.

Owain reached out—to push Inigo away, he told himself—but all he ended up doing was laying his hand on Inigo’s shoulder.

“Seriously,” he said. “you’re freaking me out.”

Inigo mumbled something too low to hear.

“What?”

Inigo turned his head, his cheek still pressed against Owain’s stomach. As best as he could press against Owain, anyway. Even with Owain leaning back on his elbows, only partly sitting up, it was still an awkward angle.

“I _said_ ,” Inigo grumbled. “I should be thankful you didn’t default to in-character mode right when you woke up.”

As though anybody could do anything this time of night. Owain rolled his eyes and shoved at Inigo’s shoulder. Not as hard as he could have but hard enough to get the point across.

“Okay, fine,” Inigo said, frowning. He was looking at some far-off place in the corner of the tent. “I’m… I’m glad you’re back.”

Out of all the things Owain had expected Inigo to say, that hadn’t been one of them.

Inigo began to peel away, embarrassed, but Owain slipped in surprise, his elbows giving out so that he landed flat on his back. His grunt of surprise seemed to echo in the dark, and it took a moment before he realized he had effectively trapped Inigo’s arms under his back, stalling Inigo’s escape.

Not really, of course. Inigo could have pulled himself out from under Owain’s weight if he put up enough of a fight. But he didn’t, and Owain thought that said something all on its own.

Owain said slowly, as though he hadn’t just slipped and Inigo’s face wasn’t darker than it should have been, “I’m… glad to be back?”

Inigo bristled. He pulled his arms out from under Owain with minimal effort and pushed himself to his knees. His eyes flickered everywhere but Owain’s face. “Okay, whatever, this was dumb. Don’t bring this up tomorrow.”

He moved to rise, but Owain sat up again, snagging his sleeve. Inigo didn’t fight him. He looked back at Owain with an unamused face that said he wanted to be anywhere but in Owain’s tent.

“Wait,” Owain said, a little dazed. He blinked up at Inigo’s silhouette. “Did you... miss me?”

“No,” Inigo said flatly.

Owain grabbed his other arm, which was about the time Inigo started to try to pull away. Owain didn’t relent though. “Really? So you _didn’t_ say you were glad I was back just now?”

“No,” Inigo said again, fighting a little harder. “Let me go now.”

“Uh, no. You snuck into _my_ tent. I get to ask all the questions I want.”

Inigo struggled some more, and Owain was pretty sure they were going to end up wrestling on the ground in a moment. “Can you just let me go?” Inigo asked. “We’ll pretend like this never happened, okay?”

Owain let his voice carry. “What was that? You missed your fated rival, Inigo? You missed me so much you crawled into my tent—”

 _“Shut up!”_ Inigo hissed, slapping in vain at Owain’s hands and reaching for Owain’s face, no doubt to cover his mouth. “Okay, yes, I missed you! Now be quiet!”

With at admission, Inigo stilled. Owain froze as well, looking up with surprise. He hadn’t expected Inigo to be honest.

“I…”

Owain hadn’t even prompted him this time. Inigo’s hands, which had been attempting to pry Owain’s fingers from his shirt moments ago, now curled around his wrists. “I missed you, okay? Everyone else… We’ve been here for months now, and you…”

Inigo visibly swallowed while Owain’s mouth went dry. For the first time that evening, Inigo met his eyes.  

“I was worried, I suppose,” he said gruffly. “And I know you and I don’t always get along, so… yeah. I’m glad you made it back in one piece.”

Owain stared, a little in awe at the confession. It wasn’t until his arms dropped from Inigo’s sides that he realized his grip had gone slack. Inigo’s cool fingers were still loosely wrapped around his wrists.

Inigo’s eyes flickered away and then back. He looked decidedly shy and much more vulnerable than he typically allowed himself to be seen, especially by the likes of Owain. If there was one thing Inigo cared about, it was his image. Owain knew that more than anyone.

Owain cleared his throat and blinked a few times to clear his vision.

“Y—yeah,” he managed. “I’m glad I found you guys too.”

It was true. Not that Owain had planned on getting that mushy this early on. He had only found his mother and Lucina and everyone else a few scant hours ago, after all. It all still felt like a dream. More so than Inigo waking him up in the middle of the night felt like a dream, even. But it was true. Owain had worried and wondered what finding everyone would be like a thousand times over the past few months. A lot of those daydreams had involved him charging in as the hero at the last moment, yes, but that wish had been secondary to the actual finding of everyone. He had missed everyone so much his chest had ached like nothing he’d ever felt before, not even the ache of his bloodline. That ache had included missing Inigo’s smug, obnoxious face.

Inigo suddenly squeezed his wrists like he was pinching his own skin instead of Owain’s and then practically pushed himself away. Owain was surprised enough to let him go. The tent flap fluttered with the movement, and the extra light that streamed in showed just how red Inigo’s face had become.

“Goodnight?” Owain said, nearly a question. Inigo ignored him in favor of hastily crawling out of the tent, muttering words that sounded suspiciously like “stupid” and “embarrassing” and “never again.” He may have glanced back once, but Owain couldn’t be sure. He disappeared as the flap fluttered closed, but Owain could hear Inigo grumbling as he made his way back to his tent long after the flap had closed.

Owain couldn’t help but laugh alone in the dark, feeling strangely lighter than he’d felt in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact about Owain waking up to Inigo's cold nose in his stomach: I actually intended to write a more romantic Fates era fic with that scene, but ended up writing this "annoying teenage boys don't get along and deny they care" scene instead. Whoops? Maybe I'll still use it later as a call back to this one day. 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/) I get a lot of FE14 meta and fic related asks there, so feel free to browse through my "asks" or "fe14" tag for some extra stuff from me and your fellow readers you may not see over here. Or send in a question of your own if you had one. Thanks for reading!


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